The bronze armor in this case comes from the island of Crete.

On the helmet to the left, two figures with winged sandals grip intertwined snakes and press them under their feet. On the other helmet, to the right, horses stand out in relief, dwarfing the incised lions at either side of the opening for the warrior’s mouth. Images of strength and calm, these creatures lent symbolic protection to the warrior in battle. Look at the way the helmets are made in symmetrical pieces, joined in the center, how they swell in the back to give the head space and taper at the base to protect the neck.

The three lower objects are mitrai, defenses for the lower abdomen designed to hang from a warrior's belt by the rings at the top of each. They are adorned with symmetrical pairs of animals, horses and winged horses facing each other, and below, sphinxes with crescent-shaped wings and tall headdresses. The inscriptions on the mitrai show that they were dedicated to the gods. The so-called epichoric script used here varied from region to region. It could be written left to right or right to left, or back and forth from line to line.

Armor like this worn by a hoplite, a foot soldier in ancient Greek warfare. It includes a helmet like these, as well as a cuirass for his chest and back, greaves, or shin-guards, for his lower legs, a shield, spears, and a sword. The hoplite supplied all of his own equipment, at significant cost. A man's armor was invested with his identity, his fortune, and his distinction as a warrior. To lose one’s armor in battle brought disgrace on the fighter who lost it and honor to the one who captured it.